Sword Art Online: Reconfiguration

Chapter Two

Pressure creates diamonds.

The warrior known as Doraku saw the phrase on a poster in one of the many medical offices she visited as a child. Atop the block English letters stood a cartoon bear wearing sunglasses and giving a thumbs up, an absurdly huge diamond in its other hand. Wedged between cabinets and shelves lined with all manner of supplies, she focused on it every time she found herself there. It helped her ignore the tourniquet that wrapped around her thin arm, the all too familiar prick in the crook of her elbow, the full tubes sent on a journey that always ended with bad news. That pressure never made her a diamond, but at least it earned her a cookie.

But for every appointment, every needle stick, every somber-faced doctor that stepped into her room, there had been one constant. Even in her worst moments, she could count on feeling a familiar hand wrap tight around hers, give a squeeze and tell her everything was all right. Even when it wouldn't be.

She longed for that voice now, more than anything else in the world. The loneliness pressed against with every step, a weight so daunting she feared it might crush her heart flat at any moment. Alone and idle, she often could do little more than hold her head in her hands and weep. That's why she jumped at every possible distraction.

As she parried the club of the kobold opposite her, she silently thanked the beast.

Around others, both in the real world and in Aincrad, she kept her fear and anger buried. She'd taken to smiling constantly at a young age, no matter what life threw at her. That habit carried over to the virtual world as well. But secretly Doraku loved to battle, for there she found an outlet for all the feelings she suppressed. Behind every swing of the blade, she channeled the pent-up energy from her fear, frustration, and fury. And so, rather than take advantage of openings for attack, she opted to keep a defensive posture. When her sword did lash out, it parried incoming blows or targeted the kobold's weapon rather than its body. She toyed with her opponent as long as she could, enjoying the reprieve from her thoughts.

Then the kobold sidestepped her, and her heart leaped into her throat. She wasn't alone, and her toying with the monster might have endangered her precious cargo.

Spinning on her heel, she saw it raise the club into the air, snarling at the motionless fencer. But Doraku was faster. The sword started to glow as she took a step back. Before her opponent could even register the activated skill, the sword sang through the air. A horizontal strike pierced the kobold's skin, then the blade doubled back. A second slash ripped another groove above the first, bright red polygons shimmering from the wounds. For a split second, the creature's face registered a look between rage and anger. An instant later, it shattered into misty light. Doraku dismissed the fight result screen and grabbed hold of the makeshift harness, and continued to drag the sleeping back through the dungeon.

It felt wrong to move the unconscious woman, let alone drag her like a sack of potatoes through the dungeon, but Doraku had no other choice. Her health meter hadn't budged but she remained motionless on the floor. As near as she could tell, the fencer collapsed from sheer exhaustion. A few kobold respawns convinced her that, even though she couldn't reach the nearest town like this, there were better places to wait for her to recover than the labyrinth. If... no, when she awoke, there would be plenty of time to ask questions. Surely she had something to live for, something that would make her give up on the idea of another suicide mission.

She glanced over her shoulder, back to the young woman. Unconscious she was free of the panic and anger that marred her face when they first met, and she looked serene, almost angelic. Though she desperately wanted her to wake up, the thought of speaking to her again triggered a rush of butterflies in the pit of her stomach. Unlike the others she'd helped, she wanted to get to know the fencer, but the thought made her nervous. Ignoring the flush of warmth in her cheeks, she turned around, deciding it was due to the unique situation. One couldn't protect another person without feeling a little attachment, after all!